Ghost & Candy Corn - Creative Process Gallery

Ghost & Candy Corn - 00

I didn't want to let another whole month go by without posting something new, so I decided to create something simple and minimal that couldn't possibly become complicated enough to take more than 2 evenings to create. I'm glad that this idea came to mind, because I really like this cute little scene.
Final versions of these designs can be seen here:
http://imgur.com/gallery/CWK4a

Ghost & Candy Corn - 01

This is where the Ghost really started becoming expressive. Since the sphere he was based on had 36 radial segments, I added 6 Shape Keys to the mesh, and in each set, I selected and moved up every 6th vertex at the bottom of the sheet. Then, using Animation Nodes, I created a small network that turned up and down the influence of each shape key with a 1/6th offset from the last to achieve a sine-wave pattern.
The arms were also wobbled up and down with AN and Shape Keys.
Also, you'll notice that the candy corn has been replaced with an interesting shape in this version; I started work at an awesome new company recently, and this is the model of one of our products, the Opter Pose. I showed this to our director, and she loved it, so she'll be posting a version of this design on our company's website later.

Ghost & Candy Corn - 02

I wasn't completely satisfied with simply moving both the ghost and the corn around in a circle, so I thought I'd add some starts and stops, to make it look like it was more of a chase. It looked good with the corn running away, but the ghost's motion was really boring in comparison.

Ghost & Candy Corn - 03

...and you wouldn't believe me if I told you how much effort it took me to get the ghost to follow the candy with the right timing in this one. The motion in this one took almost more effort to stick with it until I was happy than the whole rest of the design. Again, persistence is the only way through. Stick with it or you'll never make it happen.
STICK
WITH
IT
EVEN THOUGH IT'S FREAKING HARD TO KEEP FOCUS
KEEP
DOING
THE
THING

Ghost & Candy Corn - 04 a - smile

So I wanted to tell the story that the ghost finally accomplished his goal and caught and ate the candy corn - and the material on the ghost looks great, but the motion in this one looks like he -should- be juggling the corns, but he never releases them. I wanted to make it look like he was SO FREAKING EXCITED TO FINALLY HAVE THEM, but this looks more like a failed juggle.

Ghost & Candy Corn - 04 b - smile

Just thought I would try it - does the ghost look okay distorted into the shape of a corn? Well, it's not terrible, but definitely less cute. Moving along.

Ghost & Candy Corn - 05 - smile

HE'S SO FREAKING EXCITED THAT HE GOT THE CORNS, HE TURNED INTO THE CORNS TOO! :D
Yup, this is the motion that I wanted the ghost to have. Design over. Time for final render.